When Devils Sing(82)

“Why me?” Sam asked.

“Well, Red,” Jack said. “Just know I wouldn’t put you up to this if I didn’t trust you could do it. In fact, there’s not another person on God’s green earth better for this job than you.”

There was a sincerity to Jack’s words that made Sam falter a little. It was almost like he saw something worthwhile within her, that no one else had ever seen. She shook the thought away, suddenly feeling stupid. “Are they gonna hurt her? Kiran?”

“I’d like to think not,” Jack said.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“The same thing that happened to Dawson is gonna happen to her, isn’t it?”

Jack shrugged. “I am merely a messenger.”

Doubt and guilt and disgust brewed in Sam’s gut. She felt there was a war happening inside of her. How far would she go to get the life she deserved? How far was too far to save her brother?

The conversation with Neera from last night returned to her then. All you need to do is play the devil’s game, she’d said. Was this not the same? Maybe Sam could spike Kiran’s drink but save her like they planned to save Dawson? She only had to fulfill the exact terms of the bargain, then she would be free.

“Fine,” Sam agreed, holding her hand out to Jack. “How should I do it?”

Jack slipped an eyedropper-sized bottle into her palm. “One drop should be enough.”

Sam willed her expression not to betray her true intentions. “All right.”

“All right,” Jack repeated.

“You promise to keep your bargain?” Sam asked.

“It’s a deal.”

This time, he held out his hand for her to shake. Sam hesitantly took it, struggling not to recoil from his touch.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Red.” Without another word, he disappeared around the nearest aisle, and then he was gone. It was a feeling more than fact.

Sam blinked a few times, righting herself. She felt like she’d been inside Gator’s for hours, but when she checked the time on her phone, only ten minutes had passed since she walked through the door. With a shake of her head, she grabbed a nearby plastic container. Dipping it into the fish tank, she scooped out the shimmering minnow she’d been eyeing before Jack had disturbed her. A moment later, she was out the door, with her new pet.

“You stay out of trouble, all right?” Gator called after Sam.

“I always do,” Sam said over her shoulder, eyes turning toward the sky as black storm clouds consumed the horizon.





CHAPTER 33NEERA




50 HOURS


“Make yourself at home,” Grant said casually.

Neera hung back in the entryway of Grant Langley’s pool house, which sat several yards away from his much larger main house. It technically was next to a pool, but it was more a fully furnished home than it was a space for pool toys or cleaning supplies. It was significantly bigger than Room 4 at the Colonial, and nicer than any house she and her mom had ever lived in.

“Wow” was all Neera could say.

Grant walked around the space, his wet sneakers squeaking along the immaculate wood floor. “You got a fully equipped kitchen, one bedroom, one bathroom. I don’t know if you watch TV, but there’s an eighty-two-inch flat-screen over there. There’s basically everything you need, except for food. I don’t keep the kitchen stocked here, but if you make a list, my housekeeper can run to the store tomorrow morning.”

Heat flushed Neera’s cheeks. It was both too much and everything she’d ever wanted.

“Oh, no. I don’t need that. I’ll be gone by morning anyway.” She fiddled with the strap of her guitar case. Grant had insisted on carrying her other bags, which he’d already deposited neatly by the bedroom door.

“That’s what you keep sayin’.” He crossed his arms, leaning against a wall filled with hanging vintage guitars. “But again, you’re welcome to stay however long. I don’t much use this space.”

“Right, thank you,” she told him, flashing a grateful smile.

“There’s paper and pen on the table over there. In case the inspiration strikes.” Grant nodded to a glass coffee table in the living room. “I don’t know about you, but I always get the best ideas when it storms like this.”

Neera nodded, still hovering in the doorway. She feared any moment Grant would change his mind and send her packing in the pouring rain. “I’ll probably just go to sleep, honestly.”

“Sleep? It’s barely evening.” Grant laughed easily, shaking his head. “Come on, kid. Live a little. Have some friends over or somethin’—I don’t mind. I’ll be out for most of the night anyway.”

“Friends, yeah,” Neera said. “Maybe I will.”

“Just think of this as a little vacation from that dusty old motel. A musician’s retreat.” He gave her the grand sort of smile men like him paid good money for, before moving toward the door. “I’m heading out, but don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

Grant shut the door behind him, leaving Neera alone in the pool house. She walked around the space, taking it all in. The wall of one side of the house overlooked the pool ornamented with a stone waterfall. The water trickled down artificial rocks and slid into the illuminated water below. Another wall featured a floor-to-ceiling window that looked onto Lake Clearwater, though in the storm, she could barely see past the property’s dock.